


Tension

by Inell



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe, Book 7: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Drama, Harry Potter Next Generation, Not Epilogue Compliant, Post-War, Romance, The Quidditch Pitch: Eternity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-12-15
Updated: 2008-12-15
Packaged: 2018-10-26 08:04:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,593
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10782810
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Inell/pseuds/Inell
Summary: Back to work and a Monday meetingWorth the Risk #30





	Tension

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Annie, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [The Quidditch Pitch](http://fanlore.org/wiki/The_Quidditch_Pitch), which went offline in 2015 when the hosting expired, at a time I was not able to renew it. I contacted Open Doors, hoping to preserve the archive using an old backup, and began importing these works as an Open Doors-approved project in April 2017. Open Doors e-mailed all authors about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact us using the e-mail address on [The Quidditch Pitch collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/thequidditchpitch/profile).
> 
>  **Author's notes:** Thank you all for reading, commenting, enjoying, and following it for the last month! And huge thanks to Flora  & Heather for being so brilliant & fast and not killing me yet >_>!

The weekend passes by so quickly that it’s difficult to believe it’s already Monday. A morning full of meetings and lunch on the go confirms it, however. Typical Monday. In this case, Hermione welcomes the busyness because it keeps her mind off Teddy and their failed relationship. After Harry left on Saturday, she didn’t have time to dwell on anything because she had to get Hugo, and then they spent the day together and she was so exhausted by bedtime that she didn’t even lie awake thinking. That was saved for last night, when she tossed and turned and thought about all the mistakes she made and what they’ve both done wrong.

By the time she arrives back at her office with just ten minutes to spare before a meeting on the Warrington case, she has only seen Teddy twice. Both times he’s behaved normally should anyone happen to see, but she can tell the subtle differences. His smile doesn’t reach his eyes and he looks tired, like he’s not been sleeping very well either. They exchange the usual Monday pleasantries and it feels stressed to her, yet she doubts even Ron or Harry would notice the tension.

She notices. Or maybe she’s just imagining things. It’s tough to know anymore. She feels guilty and hurt, which isn’t a good combination under the best of circumstances, and she also can’t stop herself from wanting Teddy. Wanting to talk with him for hours and laugh about silly things and touch him whenever she has the urge. She wants him to look at her with that wicked smile that makes her skin tingle and feel his arms around her as they just sit and listen to the wireless. The ache is worse than she expected, which confirms her suspicions that she’s already in too deep despite her efforts to keep herself from falling.

That’s something to think about at another time, though, because she has work to get done right now and Hugo to pick up afterward. Besides, she's promised Harry that she'll leave Teddy be unless she knows without a doubt that she could eventually love him. While she suspects she knows the answer to that, she doesn't want to do anything rash without taking time to figure out what's in her heart as well as her head. Of course, she has no idea whether Harry spoke to Teddy, even though she’d wager he did soon after leaving her house on Saturday, so she isn’t sure if Harry made him make the same promise or not. Somehow, she doubts it because Harry still seems to consider Teddy a child who needs protecting. In a way, she supposes that makes sense because there’s a good chance that she’ll treat Hugo and Rose the same way when they get older.

When she realizes that it’s almost time for the meeting, she shakes her head slightly and gathers her file and notes. They’re meeting in the conference room, so she heads that way, stopping to get a cup of water along the way. She’s the first one in the room, so she sits and gets her work area organized while others begin arriving. Teddy sits across from her, as he has in any meeting since he started, and she’s extremely proud of herself for not looking up at him when he gets settled.

“Okay. It looks like everyone is here, so we can start,” she says, finally raising her head and offering the best smile she can muster right now. “Kevin, what do you have?”

Kevin looks at his notes and starts to read. “Warrington is still in Azkaban. My sources say that he hasn’t even attempted to contact a solicitor, which is very unusual as well as suspicious. I have a few feelers out to see if I can find out what the delay is, but, as of now, it’s anyone’s guess. I’ve interviewed the neighbors and have copied you on their statements, but I’ve been unable to get in touch with anyone at his company, so that’s something I’m still working on.”

She listens intently and makes a few notes as he speaks. “I’ve received the statements, but I haven’t had time to look through them thoroughly. My initial impression is that he’s seen overall as aloof and peculiar, but basically harmless.”

“Sounds about right, Boss,” Kevin says. “The woman who lives to his left says that he used to be exceptionally generous on holidays, throwing a party for the neighborhood and the like, but he stopped that last year and became more withdrawn. I haven’t been able to find out an explanation, but her belief is there was probably a failed love affair of some sort. I haven’t found any record of a friend, either male or female, however, so I’d say that’s nothing more than gossip.”

“Contact Romilda Vane at the Prophet,” she decides. “If he’s been linked with _anyone_ in the last ten years, she’ll know.” She sees Kevin make a face and has to fight a smile. “Vane might be obnoxious, but she can keep her mouth shut when we need information, so be nice. If she hasn’t heard anything for her society pages, then she knows people who might. Just keep that in mind. Next.”

“The children weren’t adopted from Oakwood.” Susan leans forward and frowns. “I spoke to several people at the orphanage and no one recognized photographs of the two survivors. There’s not any record of a successful adoption for Warrington. There is, however, an application dated four years ago that was declined. The record is sealed, so I don’t know the reason behind the declination, but I’m going to write up a request for the information to be disclosed in case it can help the case.”

“Get it done by the end of today and I’ll sign it and deliver it myself,” Hermione says, trying to think who owes her a favor and will see to the request being granted quickly. “Anything else from Oakwood?”

Susan nods. “Yeah, but it’s off the record because it’s just hearsay. But, unofficially, one of the caseworkers there remembers Warrington coming in a few years ago seeking custody of a six year old boy. She says, and I quote, ‘the way he looked at the child was one of the most disturbing things I can remember ever seeing’. She also thinks he was interested in a little girl a couple of years of older, but she can‘t remember that as specifically.”

“Great. So there’s a chance these morons interviewed him, declined him for being a mental case with disturbing ogling of children, and they didn’t see fit to, oh, warn anyone?” Kevin mutters, shaking his head.

“It isn’t illegal to give disturbing looks. Unfortunately, they couldn’t really alert anyone without specific reasons,” Hermione points out. “And I doubt they’d appreciate being called morons for doing their job and having their hands tied by the law anymore than we would. Our law has changed quite a lot since Shacklebolt took office, but there is still a long way to go before we’re at the point we should be. Besides, we have no idea why he was declined, even if I suspect it might have had to do with a psych profile.”

“As soon as I hear anything, I’ll copy everyone on it,” Susan tells them. “Other than that, I’m still working with Auror Collins on identifying the children. It’s going slowly with no progress yet, but we‘re not giving up until we get names for them all.”

“Where are you checking?” Teddy asks, speaking up for the first time since the meeting started. His voice is low and quieter than usual, and she can’t stop herself from glancing at him briefly.

“Missing persons reports, orphanage attendance records, and reports of runaways.” Susan sighs. “There just aren’t really that many children in our world who go missing or run away.”

She notices Teddy bite his lip and glance down at his notepad while he taps his fingers slightly. It’s a behavior that she recognizes. “What are you thinking, Ted?”

He glances up at her and smiles slightly, another twisting of lips that doesn’t meet his eyes. “I think we’ve been looking in the wrong place.”

“What do you have, Lupin?” Kevin asks curiously. “Did the kids say something?”

“No, they’re still not talking much at all, which is understandable,” Teddy says. “It’s just a theory, and I might be off-base, but everything adds up. He tried adopting from Oakwood but was declined. That doesn’t leave him with many choices if he was determined to get a child. Basically, it’s kidnapping, nicking a runaway, or, and this is what I'm thinking, leaving our world.”

“They’re Muggles,” Hermione murmurs, leaning back in her chair as she considers his suggestion. “Bloody hell, why didn’t we even consider that?”

“It makes sense. God, if we have to go through the Muggle authorities, this is going to be even more of a mess,” Susan mutters. “I’ll talk to Collins tomorrow, and we can broaden our search range to include Muggle missing persons. With the ages of the children involved, it seems most likely that they’d either be orphans or kidnapped because most kids that age just don’t run away.”

“Chances are he’d keep to a familiar area or go somewhere that it‘s easy to disappear,” Hermione tells her. “Check the Muggle towns around his home, and also London and the other bigger cities. There are several heavily populated areas where children could go missing so easily that it would be impossible to trace it back to one person."

“I’ll see what I can find out about his background involving the Muggle world,” Kevin says. He smiles at Teddy. “Good thinking, Lupin.”

“Well, I might be wrong, but it seems logical,” Teddy says, glancing at her when he mentions logic before he looks away quickly.

“I’ll talk to Harry and Ron about Ted’s suggestion, so they can be in the loop. I’ll also let Shacklebolt know in case we need the cooperation of the Muggle Prime Minister. If this theory is correct, things just became even more complicated,” she warns them. She can feel a headache coming on. Not only did they not even consider that the children were Muggle, which just makes her disappointed in herself, but it also adds another level to the investigation that’s going to potentially require working the Muggle system. She looks at Teddy and nods. “It’s a sound theory, Ted.”

“Thanks, Boss. So, my turn?” he asks, arching a brow at Susan. “I’ve met with the children three times now and managed to get first names and ages. Beyond that, they don’t say much at all. I know the boy is Scottish, it's rather obvious once he starts speaking, so be sure to include Edinburgh and Glasgow in the search, Bones. Fortunately, they’re slowly warming up to me, and Goyle thinks we might get something more solid by the end of the week, even if it’s just a hometown or something we can track.”

“Stay on that with the children. They’re your primary focus right now. If they give you even the slightest thing, trace it and follow it until you reach a dead end,” she tells him. “I want to avoid forcing them to testify, so we need everything we can get to earn a conviction without having to put them through that hell. All of us need to keep those kids in mind when we work this case.”

“Will do,” he promises. “Right now, I haven’t got much, but I’ll keep trying.”

“Good.” She looks at her notes and decides what needs to covered still. “I have the post-mortem on the deceased children that I sent around earlier. It’s disturbing, to say the least, and confirms the suspicion that the sexual abuse continued after death. Corner managed to locate three items used in the torture from those given to him after the initial search, and he also confirmed that the semen found on the bodies belongs to Warrington. With just that, we have enough for a solid case. However, I don’t want solid, I want air tight, which means we keep working it as if we have nothing.”

“As if that’s new,” Kevin says with a grin. “We know, Boss. Never count your dragon eggs until they hatch.”

“Treat every new fact as a stand-alone because you have to be prepared to win on each one since you never know what you’ll face come trial day,” Susan recites in a near imitation of Hermione’s voice. “If you’re standing before the Wizengamot with fifteen reasons why the bastard’s guilty, every single one needs to be another nail in the coffin in case the defendant’s scumbag solicitor knows fourteen out of the way.”

“I deny the latter one,” Hermione says primly. “I’ve never called anyone a scumbag, whatever that is, in my life. Besides, a solicitor isn't responsible for their client's actions, so, even if the client is a nasty piece of work, it doesn't mean the person attempting to give them a good defense is, too.”

“You say ‘worthless piece of dreck’, I say scumbag,” Susan tells her. "And, yes, I know not all of them, but that lesson was in regards to those who accept money without caring about the case, I believe."

“Never forget the victim, because that’s the reason we’re here and, if you lose sight of that, you fail regardless of the verdict,” Teddy says before she can begin a debate with Susan about even guilty people deserving a proper defense. “First thing you ever told me, actually.”

“No, it wasn’t,” Kevin says. He grins as he winks at Hermione. “First thing she always tells the interns is ‘give me your soul and vow allegiance to the underdog or face my wrath’, if only to scare away those who aren’t strong enough to work for her.”

She rolls her eyes. “Very funny, Entwhistle. If I decide to fire you, at least you know you’ve got a future as a Muggle comedian.”

“You won’t fire me. I’m too good,” he tells her confidently. “You can tolerate the arrogance for dedication and focus. Speaking of, any word on Ogden? Is he coming back soon or are you in line for a promotion?”

“He’s still having tests run and taking it easy. There’s no talk of him retiring, so no promotions or even whispers of such things. Understood?” She looks at the file and flips through the pages. “I think that’s all, if no one else has anything?”

“I don’t, and I have to run to a meeting on another case,” Kevin says, standing up and gathering his things. “I’ll contact Vane the Malicious and see what I can get out of her.”

He leaves the conference room, and Susan looks at Teddy expectantly. He blinks and shifts before he says, “Right. I guess I’ll be going, too.”

“Did you need something, Susan?” she asks curiously. With Susan, one never knows when she actually has an issue or when she’s just being her usual brusque self.

“Actually, I was wondering about the intern program,” she admits. She pushes her dark hair away from her face and smiles wryly. “I’m probably far too old to even consider it, but Vati and I have talked about it, and we think it’s the right decision for me, even if it means longer hours and studying. If it’s no longer available, I completely understand. I’ve said no enough times that I’m surprised you even bother asking anymore.”

“Because I knew you’d eventually say yes, if only to stop me nagging,” Hermione tells her with a triumphant smile. “And, yes, the program is still open. My schedule is pretty busy right now, but I’ll make time near the end of the week so we can sit down and really discuss the details. There are different levels offered, so you’ll want to do some serious thinking about your expectations and intentions.”

“I’m serious, and I’ll take whichever one you think suits me best. I trust you, and I look forward to learning from you,” Susan says sincerely. “Even if I am too old to be making such a career change.”

“You’re only thirty-eight, Susan. That’s not old by any stretch of the imagination. Just remember that Ogden is, what, three times our age? It puts things into perspective.”

“True.” Susan smiles and stands up. “Thank you, Hermione. I look forward to our discussion.”

“Me too.” Susan leaves, so she finishes making notes from the meeting. Her shorthand is nearly impossible for anyone to read, so she tries to make a more legible copy for Caroline to type up any time she's going to ask her to. The sound of the door opening draws her attention away from her paperwork.

“Um, I left my pen,” Teddy says, shifting slightly as he stares at her then looks at the chair where he’d been sitting. “Sorry to interrupt. I’ll, uh, just get it and go.”

“You’re not interrupting,” she tells him. The room fills with that awkward tension as soon as he steps further inside. She misses the good tension that had her so aware of him and excited every time they were together. Now, it's just weird and uncomfortable, and she hates it because she can't stop remembering how it was just a few days ago.

He walks to his chair and grips the back of it, nearly dropping his notepad. “I lied,” he whispers. He glances up at her and his hair fades to a pale blue as he sighs. “I didn’t leave my pen. I just---I wanted to see you, even though I know I shouldn’t.”

“No, you shouldn’t,” she murmurs, trying to remember her promise to Harry but finding it difficult. She bites her lip before she looks at the door and then back at him. “How are you, Ted?”

“Well, the appropriate answer is fine but the honest answer is miserable and aching. You?”

“About the same.”

“I’m glad.” He pauses. “If you’re miserable, then it means something’s still there.”

“There’s never been a question about that,” she reminds him quietly. “But we can’t do this. Harry knows now, and things have changed since Friday night, but not enough. Besides, we can’t talk about this at work. It’s difficult to keep things balanced right now anyway.”

“I know about Harry. He, uh, came to see me this weekend. We had a good talk. Or a talk, at least, and I think it was good,” he stammers. He shakes his head, hair turning brown again. “I’m sorry. About coming in like this and being, I don’t know. Immature and needy, maybe. I just---I had to know if you were miserable, too.”

“Misery loves company.” She smiles wryly and nods once. “I am, but that doesn’t change anything really. Not yet.”

“Yeah, I figured.” He shrugs. “I hoped, but this isn’t one of those books I read. Hurts a lot worse than they say, and it doesn’t get better with time.”

“It’s only been a few days, Ted. It’s still fresh, and we’re still trying to deal with it.”

“Right. Time. Feels like it’s been ages instead of just three days.” He looks at her intently. “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable or anything, Hermione. I just---I miss you, and I had to seize the opportunity to talk. Maybe just to see if we were okay, unhappiness and all. I don’t like not feeling like I can talk to you, even about non-relationship stuff, and I hate the weird tension that comes from not really knowing what to do.”

“I’m not uncomfortable. I---I’ve missed you, too,” she admits. She sees him smile and wishes she knew what he and Harry talked about because it doesn’t seem like Harry made him make the same bloody promise. “I dislike the strain, too, but we’re talking now, so maybe that’ll lessen in time.”

“It always comes back to time, doesn’t it?” He laughs dryly. “I’m starting to hate time and logic.”

“Unfortunately, it seems to.” She reaches up and tucks her hair behind her ear before she gently says, “You should get back to work, Ted. Your suggestion about the children was excellent, by the way, even if I feel stupid for not even considering that possibility.”

“You’re not stupid. I didn’t consider it, either, until I was lying around this weekend feeling sorry for myself and thinking about too many things. Realized that the kids had acted weird when I changed that day, not like most children that I’ve dealt with, and I started to wonder if maybe that was why,” he explains, straightening his shoulders slightly at her compliment. “But it was clever, so I can be smug for a bit.”

“Yes, you can,” she agrees. She looks at him, getting her fill before he walks away again. “I---” She hesitates and sighs. “Let me know how your work with Goyle goes tomorrow.”

He bites his lip and stares at her mouth before he nods. “Will do, Boss. I’ll get back to work now. You---you take care, yeah?”

“I will. You do, too.” She watches him walk out of the conference room and leans forward once he’s gone, resting her face against her palms. After a moment, she collects her emotions and pushes them to the side. She raises her head and picks up her pen, concentrating on the Warrington case and the notes from the meeting for now.

End Chapter 30


End file.
